Shape and Colors Soup

Sometimes I think the best learning experiences happen naturally as we play with our children. Of course, a little guidance is needed to make sure these experiences happen fairly regularly :) The other day I was playing with the 3 year old I nanny for and came up with the idea to make "Color Soup". We then repeated the activity with shapes instead of colors.

Materials
-different colored blocks (or different shapes)
-bowl/pot
-spoon

Preparation
-Write up a recipe for your soup, listing the ingredients and then the steps for preparing it
-include pictures with the instructions and use different colored crayons if your child cannot recognize the color words.

Activity
-Show your child the recipe and tell them you are going to make pretend Color (or Shape) Soup together.
-Read aloud the recipe or have your child help read it
-Have your child find the correct color/shape of blocks to put the correct "ingredients" in the bowl.
-Stir the ingredients.
-Pretend to eat.

Skills Practiced
-recognize shapes
-recognize colors
-pre-reading/reading
-follow directions
-sort objects